Prepared
by AuditoresGirl
Summary: When Luna meets a man with a gun in the woods, things take a turn for the worse. Suddenly, she's faced with a decision that might decide the fate of her world.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! Itsa me, AuditoresGirl!**

**Finally, I scrounged up the courage too write a series! 8D I know why I don't get that may reviews and follows, you know :/ Maybe I got this all wrong, and I really am a bad writer or something, but i think that writing a series might help a little bit. We'll see anyway.**

**Oh, and the name Pepper is what I was going to call my new puppy, but I ended up calling her Luci. Yes, Luci with and i. **

**I've had this idea floating around in my head for FOREVER, and I finally got it onto paper(well, screen) when talking to my friends PurpleNutella(i talk to her a lot XD) and Rachel(shout out to my new buddy, Rachel. You're awesome, my little antis frog X3.) on Skype. **

**The series The Walking Dead is really awesome, and my favorite character is Daryl, of course. He's just so badass and a good actor too. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead.**

In a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta, lived a little 12 year old girl named Luna. She lived in a rather large white, old house, right beside a a huge forest separating her from the country land. The big old house was made of wood, all painted and nailed together by her great grandpa himself, and some of the furnishing was made by her great-grandma. It had a royal air about it, as if the house was an old queen, with a little bit of glory too match its age.

Naturally, Luna hated it.

The paint was fading and crusting off, and no matter how much you repainted it, it just kept coming off again. The furniture and curtains were always covered in dust, as if some magical dust fairy came every night to spread her magic or something. _If you're there, Dust Fairy… damn you._ She thought. There where never any electronics or TV, just the necessities, like light and gas, and the nearest town was two hours away. Two. Freaking. Hours. There was no way she could go on her bicycle to school, wich was located in the center of the little town, much less walk all the way there. Like her mom said, there were many untrustworthy people lurking around these places, and Luna was still quite young, she couldn't navigate herself through the countryside and into the city. Her grandfather always had too take her with him in his beaten up car.

The car was an old pick-up truck that Luna had known since she was 5. It was covered in rust, and one of the headlights was broken, along with a mirror on the side. The seatbelt didn't work, and the horn was louder and more annoying than an elephant that had swallowed some helium. Plus, all the people at her school laughed at her when she to the front gate of the public school. She didn't have any friends, except her dog. her dog, named Pepper, didn't question her about her living situation, she didn't judge her, all she asked for was food, a home, and some love. Dogs really were mans best friends.

It hadn't always been like this for her. Luna had once been a normal little tiny toddler, going to a cheerful, colorful little pre-school. She had many friends there, made puzzles, and liked to dress up like a princess. She remembered that she used to have a pink backpack with Sleeping Beauty on it, and her favorite thing too wear was a white dress with pretty pink and purple flowers and a matching purple belt. Normal.

Then, her parents were gone. And by gone, I mean brutally murdered and then displayed on the streets like some kinds of freak show.

There had been a physco running around their area, leaving behind him a trail of dead and wounded people. People had started calling him 'The Butcher', because he always hung his victims, or the remains of his victims in some cases, up on the streets with hooks dug into their skin, and their guts hanging beside them in the same fashion. There had been many like Luna all over the country, sad and scared and parentless, all in a matter of seconds. But none of the children were as bad as Luna. You, most of the other children had slept through their parents murder, or had been killed along with them. Really, that would have been more of a mercy than was shown too Luna.

In the middle of the night, Luna heard the creaking of floorboards outside her room, and woke up in the middle of all her stuffed animals, completely buried in an avalanche of plush. She frowned, wondering with her childlike mind, _I wonder if daddy or mommy is there…_ Slowly, she climbed out of her mountain of toys and lightly stepped onto her wooden floor. She cocked her head, hearing a door open and close down the hallway, and kicked particularly big stuffed bear out of her way. She picked her way across her room, still frowning at the door, and finally got to a little doggie bed that was placed beside her dresser. Two big, brown and still-dazed-with-sleep eyes stared up at her and blinked peacefully up at her frowning face. Luna crouched down to scratch her new puppys ear that she had decided to call Pepper. Pepper had only been there for a week, and had been settling in quite well.

Luna slowly straightened up and clicked her tounge for Pepper too follow her, and the puppy slowly got up on her wobbly, thin legs and yawned, her mouth stretching open wide and her little pink tounge arching widely out of her mouth. pepper blinked and stretched her backlegs and forelegs slowly, then following her young master, who had cautiously walked towards the door and opened it a little bit. Luna opened the door, and the loudest creak in the history of humanity came from the hinges as the wooden door swung open. Luna winced and looked up with wide eyes too see if anyone had heard. Seeing nothing, she slowly moved out towards the middle of the hallway, looking left and right before facing forwards. Pepper, as if sensing the girls hesitation, stopped snuffling around the hallway and stood patiently beside her, waiting for Luna too scrounge up the courage too move forward. There was nothing creepier than moving down a dark hallway at night.

As the little girl, moved forward at last, the little dog beside her walked towards the door and sniffed the bottom, as if sensing something under. Pepper started whimpering and growling at the door softly, as if she could smell something dangerous coming from the room. Luna sped up as she heard a gasp come from the room, and a muffled scream." Mommy…" She whimpered as she stood hesitantly in front of the door.

She didn't want to go in. She didn't want to see what was going on, but, even with her young and childlike mind, she knew she had too help her family. As if she wash;t in control of her arms, her limbs moved by themselves to the handle and slowly turned the brass handle. Luna glanced in… and let out a horrified, bloodcurdling scream.

**MUAHAHAHA I left you with a cliffhanger ^_^ **

**Now, this may not make so much sense to you guys, but it's just the introduction to my main character in this series, Luna Woods. She's an OC who- well, you'll just have too wait for the next chapter =ˆ_ˆ= **

**Name: Luna Woods**

**Age: 12**

**Physical: Brown eyes, Black hair.**

**Female**

**Short**

**Personality: Happy, but not annoyingly so. Serious a lot of the time. Not many friends. Catious, but not emo. Just a normal girl. Easily distracted. Smart, but school is too boring.(basically, she just doesn't pay attention that much)Logical.**

**Grades: C+ and below**

**So, please tell me what you think of this chappie guys! And leave a review please, they give me the inspiration too write on, and that the world isn't as cruel as I'm writing it… at least, i hope 0_0 **

**Critisism is welcomed, just be nice about it, I'm sensitive o_o **

**Have a good day!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there, Itsa me, AuditoresGirl!**

**Ok guys, I'm rating this story M now, because there will be some dark themes from here on, and a warning right here:**

**DARK THEMES AHEAD. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ.**

**Well, I hope I stick to this story, because I like the idea, but, sometimes writers block hits. I just don't know what to do sometimes, and I feel like I'm disappointing anyone following me :-/ But, that doesn't mean that I'm not posting chapter 2, because here it is! **

**Hope you like it! ~( =^_^=)**

** ''' '''**

**Oh yeah, ****THIS CHAPY IS A FLASHBACK SCENE TO LUNA WOODS CHILDHOOD!**

***flashback***

Luna saw her parents, her parents intestines, her parents bones, and more strewn all across the room. On the bed, on the walls, in the sheets, staining the white-as-snow carpet. The little girl saw bleeding corpses still lying on the sheets, and a bunch of intestines from inside her mothers and fathers belly, hung on the wall with chains and hooks, dirtying the paint on the walls and making holes in the awl were the hooks had dug in. Luna shook her head, tears streaming down her face to drip down her nose and chin, and she let our a little choked sob, shaking her head wildly so her hair was flying around her face and a few stray strands sticking to her face, which was covered in sweat.

She lowered her gaze to the floor, searching for something, _anything _comforting and gave another loud scream as she saw her mothers severed, blood-stained head bleeding profusely a few inches away from her feet. Her eyes were two gaping, crimson sockets with blood streaming out as if she had been crying red tears. Her nose was cut clean off, the bone peeking out a bit in the midst of all the dark red meat. Her mouth was open in an everlasting scream, her mouth wide open and blood dribbling out slowly as well, forming a gleaming, large crimson red puddle of blood. It had already started soaking her mothers hair.

Luna scrambled backwards right into something hard and cold, and something alive. She froze for a moment, her expression a deer-caught-in-headlights look, and she slowly turned around on her heels, her gaze traveling up a black and brown trench coat, to rest on the face of one of the tallest person she had ever met.

The dark, man-shaped shadow held up a handgun and hit her on the head with the handle. When she fell, she saw a bunch of… _devices_… scattered all over the floor, like a sickle, a steak knife, a saw, and many more tools that just weren**'**t meant to be there, on her moms white carpet, in her house. Those were things that belonged in a torture chamber. Luna stared up in horror as the man moved over her again, crouching in front of her and leering sickly at her, as if promising a slow and violent death. She could just see under the rim of his black cowboy hat. All she saw was his lips, that had curled into into a malicious parody of a smile, and flared nostrils, wide with anger.

The man finally looked up, and those wide, brown eyes shadowed with insanity and maliciousness, shifted constantly, moving from her puppy, Pepper, to her, to his tools, and back again. His pupils were dilated, and he had started foaming slightly at the mouth, like some sort of rabid dog. After a moment, he licked his chapped lips and spoke in a raspy, dry-as-the-dessert voice," Hello there, hehe, _Missy." _The man giggled and shifted, and Luna widened her eyes as tears welled up in her eyes.

Even a little toddler knew what a crazy man looked like. And this shady, grinning man was showing all the symptoms." You must be their," he gestured jerkily at the remains of her parents." little kiddy, aintcha? Real nice looking too…"

The man took of his hat to reveal a bushy head of hair and thin cheeks with bulging eyes and the skin on his face was tightly hugging his bones on his temples and forehead. The blood of his latest victims stained his face and some of it was dripping off his chin, like some sort of animal, a deranged monster from the little girls worst nightmare. His skin was gleaming with sweat and grease, and his stringy, grey hair was hanging in front of his eyes, making shadows dance across his face.

He flicked his hair back and leaned in closer, shifting again from his earlier position to settle with grabbing Luna's shirt and leaning in closer to her than before, so that his nose was almost touching her nose. Luna whimpered in fear, and spoke one of the only words she knew back then." Mooooom…" It sounded more of a moan than a cry for help, so Luna tried again, louder." MOOOOOM. DAAAD."

The murderer mocked her, twitching his eyes and flicking his hair out of his eyes again." Mooom, better come save me." He suddenly threw Luna's little tiny body across the floor to collide with the bed. " THEIR AIN'T NO MAMA TO TAKE CARE 'A YA NOW, IS THERE? AIN'T NO ONE HERE BUT ME."

The man laughed a sort of insane, deranged laugh, still staring at her with those dark, brown voids, empty of any regret or pity, empty of any sympathy or outrage. Empty of humanity. This man, whoever he was, was no longer human. Maybe in physical form, but his mind wasn't right. He wasn't right in the head. Anything or anyone that he used to be before he went downhill, was now completely obliterated. He wouldn't have recognized his own mother in that moment. Luna realized right there and then that there was no way out of this. All she knew was that her mother and father weren't going to help her with this.

Suddenly, a light flicked on from the house beside them, and Luna looked up and squinted in the harsh light, cheeks glistening in the brightness as the room lit up. The man barely glanced at the window though, to focused on the little girl in front of him. He licked his lips, and picked up her mothers head by the hair. The blood was dripping down from her hair and from the clean cut at her neck. The bushy-haired man grinned crazily as he held up her mothers mangled head." Yeah, she was a pretty thing wasn't she? Well, lemme tell you this Missy, she screamed like a lil' pig 'fore she died. Just like the whore she was, _hehe_."

Luna squinted and wiped her eyes as her eyes watered. Bile rose to her throat the longer she stared at the severed head, and she gagged, looking away. Luna had no idea what that man had just said about her mother, but she knew by the way he spit it out like some sort of dirty swear words made it seem like something not very nice.

She widened her eyes as the man neared her, walking closer, and closer, and closer…

The light that had turned on in the other house when she had been with the physco was her next door neighbor. SHe was a fifty-two year old woman called Lizy with a teenage boy, Andrew, and her fifty year old husband, Jerry. They had heard the scream Luna had let out, and went to go investigate. Andrew, the boy, had seen through the window to her parents room from his bathroom, and had called 911 immediately, yelling to his parents the entire time," MOM. It's that Butcher guy!"

The police had gotten there just as the Butcher had been about to cut off her nose. He had left a few thin scratches on her legs and neck. There had been a moment of stunned silence, filled only by the soft whimpering coming from the scared little Luna, and the panting of the Butcher, whos eyes were wide open, mouth opened a tiny bit to reveal rotting teeth. Finally he grinned and licked his lips, rasping out in a rattling voice," Well well well… come to join the party, gentlemen? _Hehe_, she's a real piece of work I'll tell you t-"

Suddenly, one of the youngest men in the group, who was a nervous wreck, shaking in his boots, had fired his gun straight into the murderers brain, fracturing the brain and hitting the spot right between the eyes. He had been killed instantly, and quite painlessly. Luna didn't know what was going on, only that a scary noise had come from the little black thing, and the man above her had fell on her, and didn't get up anymore. She screamed and desperately tried to tug the body off of herself." Mommy…" She whimpered out in a slow, agonized wail.

One of the policemen finally shot forward to pull the body off her, and immediately called for an emergency vehicle on his walkie talkie, and the rest of the police force immediately sprung into action, rushing around the room for evidence, or walking around the house to look for anything else they had missed, some of them just stood there, looking at the walls and rugs in disgust and horror. The one who had fired the shot had been led out of the room out the door after he had thrown up on the rug and had some sort of a panic attack.

Luna looked dazedly on as the picked up Peppers body. She must have been knocked out by the mans gun handle. She looked at her little drooping head, not even sure if she was alive or dead. She cocked her head to the side as a lady in white with a doggy paw patch on her vest came to pick her up and put her in a carriage.

A few policemen and doctors rushed towards her, and she looked away from Pepper to them, staring disinterestedly at them as they neared her. She looked around her. She was sitting in the middle of a puddle of blood that had come from the Butchers head wound. She lifted her arms as the doctors sat next to her, and stared, in a stupor, at her blood-covered hand, the blood slowly and stickily dripping down her arm and onto her lap.

Her eyes suddenly cleared, and she shakily looked around her, jerking her head back and forth desperately, her short hair flying into her eyes and mouth." Mommy? daddy? where's my mommy? MOM!?" Luan called out, her voice growing louder and louder, until it rose above all the noise around her, all the bustling policemen and doctors." MOMMY!?"

Suddenly, Luna spotted her mothers head, that was still lying by the side of the bed, where the Butcher had so carelessly thrown it. The world slowed down around her. Her eyes widened until they seemed to be twice the size they are before. Her mouth gaped open in shock, her mouth twitching. Her hands trembled as she slowly pulled herself up on her knees, her little hands grasping the rug as she crawled towards the only thing left of her mother. More tears streaked down her blood-splattered face, dripping of her lips and cheeks, as she finally reached the severed head. Luna reached towards it hesitantly, as if she was afraid to be burned by it. She finally softly put her hand on top of her mothers head with a feather-light touch. Her lip trembled, and she started shaking, looking arounnd her, then bcd at the head.

" Mommy? What's wong wif mommy?!"

**Now don't worry my pretties, then next chapter shall contain Rick and Daryl and such. Please let me know what you think of this choppy, just a quick little sentence, and I'll be satisfied :). **

**Have a good day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi there! Itsa me, AuditoresGirl! **

**Finally, the chapter 2 is up. Since the last two chaps were only backstory, I finally started the actual story XD AT LAST.**

**Anyway, here ya go! To whoever is reading this, please do review, it makes me happier and gives me inspiration to keep writing. I need some boosting...**

It was a breezy, spring day at Lunas house.

There were grasshoppers, lady bugs and bees crawling and buzzing all over the place, on the stems of the long grass and on the colorful flowers. The flowers were swaying in the breeze serenely, their stems going back and forth, back and forth, almost hypnotically with grace and beauty. The bright colors of their petals, such as pink and orange and yellow, made the field Luna was in so much more vibrant. The forest around her was green and lush and positively bursting with life. The squirrels and hares were running all over the place, the animals had come out of their hibernation, the ducks had migrated back to her area.

She had been walking through the woods for the entire morning, walking in little streams and climbing her favorite apple tree. She had made up a game of finding as many bird nests as she could. The entire time, the forest had embraced her, welcomed her, accepted her as if she had always been there, as if she was and had always been a part of the wild. This, getting outside to be alone, was a tactic to get away from the real world. The real world was crazy, hectic, scary, and everything Luna hated and feared like the plague. The wild had order, and no social groups or anything. it was just the survival rules, eat or be eaten.

The sun had finally started to set a little bit, the light turning orange. Sunset was approaching, and fast. The trees and bushes were lighting up with a warm, dusty color, the sky had streaks of yellow, blue, and red in it. Quite beautiful. Luna smiled up at the sky, flicking her bangs out of her face. Her shoes were wet and a little bit muddy from falling in a stream, down by the edge of a wildflower field. She thought she'd seen a mouse, and screamed as loud as she could. She then promptly tripped and fell over a dusty, grey rock and stumbled into the little stream she had been throwing rocks in.

Luna took of her shoes and picked them up in her hands so they wouldn't put any discomfort on her feet, and walked peacefully forward, closing her eyes briefly as she felt the soil surround the soles of her feet, the tiny little rocks skitter off to a random direction as she stepped on them. Her hair caught in the breeze. This was one of those perfect moments, one of those moments were it seemed nothing could disturb it. But, something always did.

Suddenly, she heard crackling and rusting of leaves, as if something or someone was walking nearby. It didn't sound like they were trying to hide themselves, but then again, neither was she. Her eyes shot open, pupils dilated slightly to adjust to the sudden light, and her eyes filling up with fear. Suddenly, she heard rusting near her, a rasping moan coming from behind a set of bushes to her left. Luna heard a set of slow, shambling, shuffling pair of feet slowly dragging in her direction, and another slow, rattling moan coming closer to her. A sudden flashback to her childhood, of the serial killer coming closer, and closer and closer, filling up her vision.

Luna watched in horror as some kind off terrifying, mutated form of a human being dragged itself out of the bushes, moaning and groaning, grasping the air as if trying to pull Luna towards its mouth. The flesh around the mouth was almost completely gone, just bloodied teeth and blackened gums. It was missing its right arm and most of its left leg. At some point, it must have a young girl, with beautiful flowing hair. Now, the blood tainted strings of hair were hanging in its eyes and falling off in some places, with bald, painful looking skin showing all over its head. It was wearing the remains of a skin-tight brown shirt and what looked like baggy jeans. It had blood, dirt and mud all over it, and tears on the knees, thighs and ankles. It had a festering, puss-filled bite on its neck, with flesh missing from the rest of her shoulder.

It started slowly crawling towards her, slowly, painfully, still groaning. Luna stumbled back, clutching her mouth as she tried not to throw up the little snack she had brought up with her. (She had _really _liked that chocolate bar.) The stench was just the most horrifying, disgusting, most gut-wrenching thing she had _ever _smelled. It was a mixture between rotting flesh, mud, animal poop, and a lot of other things that the _thing _must have picked up on the way.

Suddenly, blood spurted everywhere, some of it staining the front of her shirt and a little bit of her chin and nose. The _thing, _whatever it was, abruptly went still, its head dropping to the ground and its arms going limp, flopping lifelessly to the ground as well. An arrow was sticking out of its head, exactly where the base of the brain would be. The arrow had gone straight through its brain, and Luna could see the tip of the arrow sticking out in-between the eyes. A perfect shot.

She looked up, wiping the blood off her shirt frantically. " W-what the hell?" She stuttered out, her knees knocking together and her whole frame positively trembling with fear.

She looked up, still rubbing her shirt, and saw a man standing at the edge of the clearing she was had a beige sleeveless shirt on with baggy jeans and short, brown hair and brown eyes to match. He had a sort of badass air around him, as if he had done this sort of thing in his sleep. The most shocking thing about him though, was the amount of _blood _and _guts _on his clothes, arms, legs, face, everywhere. He had dust and dirt in his hair and on his clothes as well, and he looked as if he hadn't taken a bath in ages.

He leveled a black crossbow at her, locking onto her with his brown eyes. They had a sort of intensity, a sort of aura around it, as he was saying, _don't mess with me. _She looked back at him, mesmerized partly by fear, and partly by fascination. Who was this guy? Why was he pointing a crossbow at her? Why the _hell _was she not running away, screaming in fear like a little girl? Finally he started to talk," Who the _fuck_-" but he looked up when another man walked into the clearing, locked eyes with her, and suddenly pointed a gun at her.

He starred coldly at her with ice-blue eyes, and spoke, in a low, menacing voice," You've got five seconds to explain yourself, Missy. What the hell are you doing here?"

_To be continued…_

**Muahahaha! ANOTHER cliffhanger! Well, next chapter you'll see what happens to lil' Luna and hows she gets outta this one. Sorry it took a while to write. I know it's short, but the dreaded writers block hit ;P I think you might know that feeling. **

**Review, and have a good day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi there! Itsa me, AuditoresGirl!**

** This is chapter 4 of Prepared by maself X3 I really hope i got Daryl's accent right, I didn't know exactly what it was… errr, redneck accent, or something? I dunno…**

**I recently watched a behind the scenes of The Walking Dead… well…. more like a week ago, and I was all, WOAH, Rick Grimes is BRITISH?! 0_0 MY WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE!**

** Anyway, have fun reading!**

_He stared coldly at her with ice-blue eyes, and spoke, in a low, menacing voice," You've got five seconds to explain yourself, Missy. What the hell are you doing here?"_

Luna stared back at him for a moment, flabbergasted at this man's audacity. How dare he come on _her _land, point a gun at her, and tell her that she had better explainwhat she was doing on her _own land. _Finally, she spoke, anger growing in her eyes visibly. She took a step forward, her hands shaking again, but this time in rage." E-excuse me? Who am I? Who the _fuck _are you?! Why are you on _my _land?!"

She then covered her mouth, eyes widening with a visibly growing fear in her brown eyes. This man had a _fucking _gun. Rule number 1 to surviving, do NOT yell at a guy with a gun who's covered in blood. EVER. She flicked some hair out of her eyes nervously, and wrapped her arms around herself, staring into his eyes. They seemed so… _clean… _compared with the rest of him. His clothes and skin were covered in blood and guts, yet those eyes seemed stainless, so very, very pure. And yet, they had shadows of pain, guilt fear, anger. Little ugly shadows in his eyes that marred the crystal clear blue.

The man in front of her had a sort of cold as ice aura about him, like he had seen things, horrible things that no man or woman should ever have to see. As if he had been hardened by pain and battle, and the process could never be reversed. He had curly black hair, with was also crusted with blood and dirt, and light blue eyes, with an unwavering gaze to match. he was wearing a black shirt with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had jeans with cowboy boots, pointy toes and all.

The man narrowed his eyes at her, and stepped forward as well, so they were now only inches apart. Luna shifted uncomfortably, but didn't back down from him. She looked up at him, and he was still pointing his gun at her, though he seemed to have calmed down a bit when he saw that she was unarmed. The man shifted back onto his left foot, leaning a bit to the side, and looked over his shoulder briefly to talk to the man behind him." She doesn't have a gun on her. No knife, nothing." He glanced back at her, lowering his gun a bit." You gonna put up a fight?" He raised his eyebrow at her, waiting for an answer.

She looked up at him, shaking like a leaf on a windy day. " P-put up a f-fight? For w-what? Why?"

The man with the crossbow sauntered up to her, holding his weapon at his side, ready for use anytime." Just in case ya wanna kill us or somethin'. I don't wan' no lil' girls chasing after ma ass 'cause a some misunderstandin'." He spit on the ground as if to accent his point, and Luna widened her eyes, staring at him in disbelief and horror.

" K-kill?! Why in the _hell _would I do that?! That's illegal, for Christ's sake!"

Luna looked around her, scared of these strange men. She had no idea who they were, what they were doing, where they came from. Nothing. Her eyes darkened, as she grew more defensive, shrinking into herself and finally taking a step back from the man. She was scared. There was no simpler way of saying it, she was _terrified _of the people in front of her, and they could tell. The man in front of her, the one with the curly hair, finally lowered his gun completely, pity growing in his eyes as he stared at her.

The man stared back at her with the same expression of disbelief she had looking at the other guy with the crossbow and walked towards the thing on the ground, crouching beside it and looking back up at her as he gestured towards the thing." You serious? You've never killed a walker, or biter, whatever you call them?"

Luna shivered as she looked at the mutilated face, those sunken in eyes and that stringy, dead hair." I… I don't even know what it _is… _seriously, what the hell is it?"She drew herself up, growing a bit bolder."Who are you? Why do you have weapons? Why are you so _dirty_?! No, no, more importantly, why are you so far from town?" She wiped a little bit of blood off her face.

The man with the crossbow had been watching her this entire time with skepticism this entire time, but at the mention of 'town', his whole attitude changed. A flurry of emotions flitted over his face in a matter of seconds. Anger, doubt, anxiousness, and, for a fraction of a second, something that looked a little bit like hope. " Ya gotta whole _town? _How many people?"

Luna shakily shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head." I dunno, like, a lot of people." She looked up with a steely expression." You didn't answer my question."

The man with the curly hair got up from where he had been sitting beside the dead thing, and dragged his fingers through his hair, sighing." It's what you gotta do to survive these days. In the first days, I didn't think that there'd be so many, but…" He sighed again and leaned on his right leg, glancing over at the man with the crossbow.

Luna frowned, slowly getting bolder as she talked to these men." What do you mean by that? Do you mean that there's more of these? Are they dangerous?"

The crossbow man laughed for a second, but after a moment he looked back at her in surprise." Hold on, you serious? You ain't never even _seen _a walker? You don' even know if they're dangerous? _Fuck, _girl! Where you been at?!"

Luna scowled and crossed her arms, picking up her shoes where she'd dropped them from before." With my stepparents. No one's mentioned anything about muting humans to me, as far as I know. How the hell did you get here? Are there more of you?"

The curly-haired man sighed-again-, and pushed his sleeves up a little more, finally putting his gun into his holster. The man with the crossbow looked at him incredulously. The curly-haired man just stared back at him, giving him a nod off the head after a few moments. the crossbow man frowned angrily, but lowered his crossbow to the ground, still keeping it out in the open.

The curly-haired man walked in front of her." My name's Rick, and this is Daryl." He leaned back a little, lifting his eyebrow a little bit and folding his arms."Now, you mentioned somethin' about a 'town'?"

**And that was chapter 4 of Prepared :) sorry for the short chapter and the long wait for anyone who is reading, but I was kinda busy with school and tests and all that jazz :P sorry again!**

**HAVE A GOOD DAY!**


	5. Chapter 5

_The curly-haired man walked in front of her." My name's Rick, and this is Daryl." He leaned back a little, lifting his eyebrow a little bit and folding his arms."Now, you mentioned somethin' about a 'town'?"_

Uneasy, Luna shrugged, flicking her hair back and crossing her arms in front of her." Well, yeah it's a town. But if you're looking for something bigger, you might want to look a little bit further west, that's where Atlanta is. It's got lots of stuff there, and if you need a job…" She looked up at them uncertainly." Do you have a job?"

The man called Daryl just looked at her, dumbfounded. Then, his expression twisted into a mocking sneer, and he snakily spat out," Well, seein' as the motherfuckin' world ended, no, I am currently unemployed!" he turned towards the other man, Rick, still with the same expression on his face." Rick, she's gotta be fuckin' with us! No one just _doesn't _know about everything tha's happened, she cain't be tha' oblivious!"

Rick shook his head, running his hands through his messy and greasy hair, a confused and tired look on his face." Well, Daryl, we didn't really know how bad it was anywhere else… maybe it ain't so bad here, maybe the disease hasn't hit yet, maybe-!"

Daryl cut him off quickly, gesturing wildly." Rick, she just said that she's livin' near Atlanta, those fuckin' walkers can't jus' have disappeared into thin air, goddammit! Just _think _for a second, man. Atlanta was gone the last time we saw it…" He paced up and down frantically, nervously running his fingers over his crossbow.

Exasperated, Luna scoffed, her nervousness finally going away completely. Besides, this wasn't the most horrifically violent thing that had ever happened to her… she shook her head, expelling those thoughts from her mind. She set her mind to convincing these men that Atlanta was just fine." Well, I don't know where _you've _been, but Atlanta isn't taken over by these," She gestured to the walker," things. I went with my… _dad_ there to go get some stuff just this weekend." Forcing the word _dad _out of her mouth as if she was expelling a demon from her soul, she went on." The city looked pretty ok to me anyway, didn't see anybody trying to _eat each other_." She hissed the last part out in a sarcastic voice, skeptical.

Shaking his head in confusion, Rick frantically tried to come up with some sort of solution to this, a plan." Okay… I think that, maybe we should just check this 'town' out at the very least, Daryl. I mean, since Hershel made us leave the farm, we've just been wanderin' round, no destination, no nothin'. Besides, I think we could all use a lil' human contact."

Daryl frowned, agitated." But wha' about Atlanta?"

" I dunno, but this is worth checkin' out man." He wiped a little dirt from his hands on his pants." We need a place to stay, an' we can't just keep sleeping' in cars anymore." He looked at her hopefully." Hey, you wanna come meet the group? We have no idea where we would have to go to find your town anyway. Would you help?"

Luna fixed her eyes to the ground, thinking. She barely knew these people, and they were asking for her to come with her? Did they actually expect her to believe whatever they had said? That they had actually just killed someone? She walked over to the thing on the ground, and put her hand on its pulse. Dead, for sure. But… it looked like it had been dead for a long time before now. Rotting skin and flesh, horrible teeth, bulging eyes. _Definitely _dead. Grinning half-heartedly, she turned.'You guys better not be messing with _me._"

"Let's go."

(**In A Place Far Away from Earth, in the High Palace of Flordarin)**

A large group of men, women, and hybrids were gathered in the center of a throne room. This room was literally, in every sense and form, the Center of the Universe. This was where the world had been made, where _They _had watched the Humans, the Animals, and every over sort of race or thing being created from the smallest strand of DNA, to a strong, and prosperous being.

The room was lined with 10 beautiful, kingly thrones, with banners and intricate and rare gems worked into the stone of the thrones. Marble white pillars lined the room with a large glass dome above the thrones. On the far left of the row of thrones, at the very end, was a very old and rickety-looking throne, full with cobwebs and dust. It looked like it had been sitting there, unused for the last few centuries.

If you looked up, you could see the stars, just the same as you could see them from your own backyard. Except, there were shooting stars streaking across the sky every five seconds, and flashes of angry red and violent purple could be seen in the distance, like an angry red vein on flawless skin.

On the floor and ceiling, mosaics with images of battles and deaths, victories and births, of life and of death, and of peace and vengeance could be seen, changing to something different every few minutes, 'till the floor looked like a sort of silver shimmering, shifting carpet. Strangely, about 20 feet away from the table, formed in a perfect circle, was a sudden and deathly drop going down, down, down forever. You couldn't even see the bottom, it was just stars, like the ones behind the glass ceiling. Just empty space.

In the center of the room was a large wooden table, made of an unknown wood substance that was a dark blue color. On that table was the entire universe on one map, as unbelievable as that sounds. As if an invisible wind was blowing on the paper, the map was constantly moving, shifting and fluttering slightly. And on the map…

Purple, blue, yellow, orange, pink, and many more colors that have not yet been discovered by the Human Race littered the map, with tiny little specks of white filling the map up. All the little white lights represented one dimension, one world, and all of them were intricately connected, like some sort of ethereal spider web. New ones were constantly being formed, and older ones were being destroyed just as gave new meaning to the phrase 'everything is connected'.

Around the table where 9 arguing people. Past, Present, Future, Father Time, Mother Nature, Sister Destiny, Sister Life, Brother Death, and Brother War.

Past was in the form of an old man with a long, flowing silver beard. He had a sort of wizened look in his eyes, as if you could throw anything at him and he wouldn't be surprised. Various rings and bracelets covered his hands, and he held a large, metal staff beside him, with a large black vortex in the middle of it, streaked with blue and silver. His eyes were a hazy blue, as if he was blind. On his head rested a grey, large crown. The crown harbored one silver gem in the middle with some sort of swirling mini-vortex in the center. Blue and black gems lined the outside and the rest of the crown, and each stone had something at it's center. For example, a light blue gem had flickering numbers at its center, that were constantly changing. If you looked close enough, you could see that they were dates, like December 18, 1600, or August 6, 1485. Others were written in runes and languages unknown to all but Past himself.

Present was a tall, strong and kingly looking man. he had a beardless face with long, brown hair that was tied up in a messy ponytail, and had gleaming black armor covering almost his entire body except for his head and a little bit of his neck. Large black boots were on his feet, with metal braces on his legs and a large, silver buckle at his waist, and he had a smaller crown on his head, with a simple oval red stone mixed with purple and silver, and black diamond-shaped stones on either side of the red one. He had a handsome and powerful aura about him, like his mere presence inspired confidence and a boost in morality. However, his purple eyes were full of cunning, wit, and had a mischievous air about them. A humungous, golden sword was attacked to his back, with a ruby red stone on the hilt and purple swirls going up the sword's blade, intertwining at the tip. The blade practically _gleamed_ with power and strength. Multiple daggers were attacked to his thigh, belt, back, and calf, and a large, red scar went across his cheek and down to his jaw, nearly splitting his cheek in two.

Future was a woman with wild, curly light blue hair. She had a very long white dress with a low v-neck and sleeves that went past her wrists to the tips of her fingers. The sleeves then seemed to wrap themselves around her fingers, and fashion themselves into a sort of ring. Two simple silver bracelets held the cloth in place at her wrists, and she floated above the ground slightly. The dress went past her feet, and sort of faded gradually, as if she a spirit. She had only a simple silver band holding her hair back for a crown, with one jagged dark blue stone at the tip. At her waist was a dark blue cotton belt with a long strip going down to around her knees. It had a symbol on it, like a square with a light and a dark side. Blue eyes with the same symbol as on the strip of cloth in it flicked around the room constantly, as if she was checking for danger.

Father Time looked sort of like a crossing between an eagle and a wolf. Both regal animals, and both with a cruel and calculating look in their eyes. He had a yellow beak with red dots lining the tip, and then feathers up until his eyes, were the feathers gradually grew into fine, black strands of fur. He had one eagle eye, with yellow mixed in a little with brown flecks, and one blue wolf eye, with a slitted pupil and flecks of white. His long, black robes covered his arms 'til his elbows, where he had arms and hands exactly like a wolfs, except with opposable thumbs. His hood covered his head, but atop his hood sat a big, golden crown with a blue and a yellow stone that were molded together at the base, and a streak of black and white going up to the tip. The sides and the back of the crown were flecked with small pieces of silver and ruby. He seemed to be standing at the head of the table beside Mother Nature.

Mother Nature had a sort of regal, cold-hearted look in her eyes, hardened by war and violence. Grey cat ears poked through her dark green wavy hair, and she had a pink cat nose. Along with that, she had an abnormally long, sleek black tail, and claws instead of nails. An iron chest plate and iron coverings for her arms were strapped to her arms, shoulders and wrists. a Long cloth went from her waist down to her knees with green, black and white patches of color splattering the cloth as if blobs of paint had been smeared across it. Metal legs braces and thigh braces were also strapped to her lower body, and a simple dark brown leggings could be seen under her leg armor, and no shoes adorned her small, petite feet. A metal adorned bow was circled around her middle, and a dozens of arrows were strapped to her back, tipped with gold-colored deadly poison.

Sister Destiny was actually the smallest of the entire Council. She looked to be about 12 years old with gold, curly, angelic locks of hair falling down her back in a cascading waterfall. Deep set black, sightless eyes stared off into space, not being able to see any of her surroundings. Pink and gold tattoos surrounded eyes and cheeks, creating a swirling patterns, like sand being carried of in the wind. Sister Destiny was wearing a yellow rimmed with white summer dress, and a pink and purple crown sat upon her head, with an opal shaped into a flower with ruby in the middle sitting in the middle. Little speckles of solid gold stone were molded into the crown around the base and top. the only armor she was wearing was a very small chest armor piece to cover her chest and a part of her arms. Destiny wore green rain boots and had a small sized flowery umbrella attached to a leather belt she wore around her waist. What most enemies didn't know, was that that same innocent little object could turn into a rather large and lethal amber and silver war hammer.

Sister Life was the cruelest and most war-loving one of them all, even more so than Brother War. She was a rather large woman, beefy, with muscle all around her abdomen, arms, biceps, and most areas of her body. A large viking-style helmet was strapped around her face, and albino-white hair was gathered up in a tight bun, with the occasional stray lock of hair falling into the ethereal beings eyes once in a while. Gold eyes peeked out from slits in the helmet, practically glowing inside of the metal protective gear. A huge, silver blue axe was strapped to her back, with other multiple daggers, and a medium-sized sword were strapped into her armor on her thighs, legs and hips.

Brother Death was actually the most normal looking person in the entire High Palace at the moment. And by that, I mean, the only one without armor and no un-human characteristics. A casual, friendly smile stretched across his angular face, and he wore a sleeveless shirt with metal braces wrapped around his lean, wiry arms. His short, tousled black hair was tinted with silver, making his hair look like fluid ink. Several piercing adorned his face, and he wore a black crown that was fashioned into a bowler hat, with a pretty average looking smooth black stone, and a small amount of bronze metal going around the base of the bowler hat, and a bit of the rim. Skinny black and red checkered jeans, and a ACDC shirt with a jacket made of some sort of hard yet soft substance. Four pockets could be found on the back of the jacket.

Brother War was a big, bulky man with dozens and dozens of scars in every possible part of his body. With short brown hair styled into a buzz cut, he had on a simple helmet with a black tinted glass covering his eyes, and a spiked green tail poked out from a chink in the armor on his back. It shifted and twitched constantly, like it had a mind of it's own, and if you could see under the helmet Brother War, sharp, lethal teeth peeked out between his lips. His eyes were slitted with dappled light and dark green patches of color around the iris. A metal spear was leaning against him, and a large green and silver trident in his hand. Two long obsidian katanas were strapped to his back, and another large sword was strapped into his waist, with a war hammer on the opposing side.

"We cannot allow some slow minded, half-witted, dumb-as-a-bag-of-nails _human _control the fate of the universe, I thought that did not have to be clarified!" said Sister Life. Aggressively, she leaned forward, putting her hands on the edges of the map and gripping the map.

Brother Death frowned, creating a comfortable leather armchair to recline in as he argued with the other violent Council member." Well, frankly, I don't see what the big deal is here. Just fuse the 2 frisking dimensions, and you can solve the entire thing!"

"Lemme stop you right there bro." Present shook his head, frowning at the easygoing guardian of death." There are paperworks, filing we need to do, updating to systems, etcetera. We can't just up and fuse two dimensions! You can't just do whatever you want and expect no consequences, we're not _that _good at doing this ethereal being thing yet." The Council Member quirked an eyebrow at the black haired male in disapproval." Do you have any idea how much me and Past and Future have to work to keep up with the changing timelines, alternate realities, fates being intertwined, and so forth? Like, a lot! You gotta think careful about this. I'm not sayin', don't do anything, but, you know, uh, make the decision when you _know _it's the right thing to do."

Sister Destiny voiced her opinion in her sweet-as-honey voice," Things are never fully certain, my brother. Sometimes we must follow with blind faith, and just hope things go as planned. We cannot map our entire existence out, there will be crossroads."Her eyes didn't meet Present's eyes, they starred through the glass dome into the flashing red and purple lighting in the distance with a troubled expression on her face."We must decide."

"Rick is a worthy mortal, that we can all agree on, yes?" Father Time finally straightened up from the thinking he had been doing, his hands folded behind his back, and an annoyed look flashed across his face before settling back into the mask of indifference, as if he couldn't care less if the universe fell into chaos and destruction or not.

The Members of the Floradin Council all nodded, some more reluctant than others. Father Time continued." We _know_ that this Plague will spread through all dimensions, it will take over the entire _universe_ and erase any signs of living beings. And, I fear it will eventually reach the High Palace." said the guardian of time. "I must agree with Sister Destiny, the time to act is now. Let the Council of Floradin vote."

Father Time stepped forward first, saying simply, with his head raised regally," I vote for Rick."

Sister Life and Mother Nature both glared at the bearded being, obviously not satisfied with the decision Father Time had made. Brother Death, who was standing at the far corner of the table, grinned at Father Time, as if he was glad that the guardian of time had irked his female counterpart, Sister Life. "Well, 's far as I'm concerned, this 'Rick' fella, might be doing more good than we're doin' right now. So sure, I'm all for it."He smiled, leaning back a bit and playing with a chain on his pants.

Sister Life gritted her teeth and snarled at the other Council member."I think you _know _where I stand."

Mother Nature nodded in agreement, twitching her tail back and forth across the spotless floor." And I as well."

Future and Past looked at each other simultaneously, and seemed to agree on something mentally, like they were having a private conversation in their heads. Future slowly turned back to the table with a blank-as-ever gaze after a long pause, and declared," I suppose… we should proceed, seeing as we are this far already. Present and I will just have to see to all the extra paperwork."

Past nodded, his crown bobbing on his head almost comically, and his wizened face crinkled into a smile." Yes, we'll manage, won't we Present?" The old man looked over at the younger guardian, but then went on, not even waiting for him to answer." We vote for Rick."

Brother War shook his head gravely, looking down at the map of the universe." Rick… he hardly seems like a worthy opponent for the Plague. He has more than a few problems going on in his life, and he doesn't really seem like the leader type. He's a good man, but makes the wrong decisions most of the time. Maybe, with another person, at another time, I would agree… but this could not be any more risky. The stakes are too high." He looked over at Sister Life, who was nodding in agreement and encouragement." I stand with Sister Life." said the guardian of battle.

Sister Destiny looked around her in a confused and detached manner, as if she was just realizing that she had to vote for or against the seemingly insignificant Human Being. Her silver eyes flicked around her, processing the situation before proceeding in a calm and steady voice." Sister Life, Mother Nature, and Brother War… I understand that the count is now 5 against 3. Even if I do side with you, you will not win this argument." Mother Nature turned away from her angrily, flicking her ears down and fluffing her tail up, and Brother War tapped his foot against the marble floor nervously, not looking the guardian of destiny and fate in the eyes."So, the most logical choice is to go with the 'winning' team. I do apologize, but this is my final decision."

" I choose for… Rick."

**And so that was chapter 5 of "Prepared", I hope the ending didn't seem to far fetched, I needed some kind of reason for Rick to be jumping dimensions, so why not create gods? :P Makes the story a bit more interesting anyway, soooo...**

**I spent a REALLY long time writing the descriptions of the Council, believe it or not. They're pretty hard to write, and to come up with. Forgive me for not posting in a while, but I'm a slow writer :P I post when I can. **

**Have a nice day!**


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